Prince Yu was lucky. Everyone was busy celebrating the New Year and preparing for the New Year. The issue of him being confined and fined his salary was only discussed for two days before it died down.
On New Year's Eve, all officials from various prefectures and above the second rank brought their families to the palace to attend the palace banquet.
After breakfast, the concubine went to the palace accompanied by Prince Jin and Jiang Changning.
After the ceremony, Jiang Changning sat in a corner with the pregnant Princess De, chatting and laughing. At this time, Zhao Xifang came over, stared at the two of them with unfriendly eyes, and said, "Don't be so complacent, the two of you."
After saying that, she turned and left.
Jiang Changning and the Dewang Crown Prince's wife looked at each other in bewilderment for a moment. The Dewang Crown Prince's wife asked, "What does she mean by this?"
"She's mentally ill, ignore her." Jiang Changning could feel that Zhao Xifang was hostile to her, but she didn't understand where this hostility came from.
Could it be that Zhao Xifang is also interested in Prince Jin
Prince Jin is really a disaster!
Neither of them paid much attention to Zhao Xifang, and continued to talk about the Yue Opera that was recently performed by the Jiangnan Opera Troupe in Beijing.
"I heard that a new play 'Liu Yi's Letter' will be performed on the third day of the Lunar New Year. Call Bingqing and the others to go and listen to the play together." said the Crown Princess of Prince De.
"It's freezing cold, and you're pregnant, so don't bother yourself. When you can hire someone, invite the troupe to your house and have them sing a few songs just for you. You'll enjoy it."
"That's the only way." The Dewang Crown Princess rolled her eyes and asked, "When do you plan to get pregnant again?"
"My son is only one year and two months old. Do you need to rush the birth so quickly?" Jiang Changning pouted.
"Two babies in three years, my little sister-in-law." The Princess Consort of Prince De said with a smile.
Jiang Changning raised his eyebrows, "I'm not in a hurry, just let nature take its course, and give birth if I get pregnant."
"I just hope that this baby is a boy so I can take a break." The Princess Consort of Prince De said while touching her belly.
Jiang Changning couldn't respond to this. No one would know the gender of the baby in her belly until it was born.
Just like the Crown Prince's wife of Prince Changshan, people with experience said that she had a round belly and couldn't stand sour food, so she was pregnant with a girl, but gave birth to a boy.
The two chatted for a while, and women from noble families such as Wen Bingqing and Zeng Zhaofu also came in.
In winter, it gets dark early. At 3 p.m., the light gradually dims and it is already dusk. The palace maids come over and invite the female members of the family to go to the banquet hall for dinner.
Everyone greeted each other and got to know each other, and time passed quickly.
At this time, a palace maid was holding a tray, looking left and right, as if looking for someone.
He was walking without looking at the road and bumped into Jiang Changning. The tray overturned, and the cup of tea on the tray fell onto Jiang Changning.
Fortunately, Jiang Changning was wearing thick clothes in winter, so the cup of hot tea did not burn him.
"What's wrong with you?" Zeng Zhaofu asked sternly.
"Princess Jin, I didn't mean it." The maid was so scared that she knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
Jiang Changning stared at her with deep eyes. The Sejun has become the late emperor. Whose idea was it that this palace maid made such a fuss
What do you want to do now
"Get up, no need to kneel, take me to change clothes." Jiang Changning did as she wished. He wanted to see who it was and what tricks he wanted to play.
Wen Bingqing and Zeng Zhaofu looked at each other and said, "We'll go with you."
This trick of pouring tea on people to lure them out is very old.
Well, it doesn’t matter what the trick is, as long as it works.
"Thank you." Jiang Changning smiled at them, and then urged the palace maid, "Let's go."
The palace maid looked at Wen Bingqing and then at Zeng Zhaofu. She had no right, but she didn't dare to stop the two from following. She gritted her teeth and said, "Princess Jin, please follow me."
After walking out of the hall from the side door for a while, the maid turned around and knelt down again, "Princess Jin, I didn't want to do this either. It was Grand Princess Yiya who forced me to do this."
Jiang Changning didn't expect it to be Princess Yiya. He couldn't understand why she did this, so he asked directly, "Where did she ask you to take me?"
Jiang Changning frowned, "She's not going to push me into the lake, is she?"
"This servant doesn't know. Princess Yi Ya only asked me to take the princess over. Others will do the rest."
"Ningning, let's go and take a look." Zeng Zhaofu, a man of great talent and boldness.
"No." Jiang Changning was unwilling to take the risk. "A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall."
Wen Bingqing agreed, "Ningning is right."
"No matter what trap she sets, as long as I don't get involved, her efforts will be in vain." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
They found an empty room nearby and asked the palace maid to bring a brazier. Jiang Changning took off his outer clothes, dried them, and put them on again. Then the three of them returned to the banquet hall.
"I'm going to look for my prince." Jiang Changning said to the two of them.
"Just go and do your thing." Wen Bingqing said with a smile.
Jiang Changning randomly found a eunuch and asked him to pass on the message and invite Prince Jin over.
"What happened?" Prince Jin looked worried.
Jiang Changning pulled him to a corner and told him what had just happened, "Can someone check what Princess Yi Ya wants to do?"
"I will arrange for someone to investigate. You stay in the hall and don't wander around."
"The banquet will start soon. I can't leave even if I want to."
Prince Jin went to find someone to investigate. Jiang Changning entered the palace and continued chatting with Prince De's wife and the others.
As they were chatting, they saw Princess Yi Ya come in. She looked around as if she was looking for someone.
Then, her eyes met Jiang Changning's, and her eyes widened instantly.
Jiang Changning calmly looked away. She did not go to Chenghu Lake, which surprised Princess Yiya.
After a while, the sound of whips was heard. This was the sound of the emperor's road-clearing whip when he traveled.
When everyone immediately stood in their positions according to their status and rank, the eunuch shouted, "The Empress Dowager has arrived, and the Emperor has arrived."
The noble concubine who was in opposition to the empress dowager was under house arrest, and the grand empress dowager was still ill. Only the empress dowager and the emperor attended the New Year's Eve banquet.
Everyone saluted and greeted the Queen Mother and the Emperor. The Emperor had a stern face and tried to look serious. "Gentlemen, please stand up."
Then the emperor said a series of clichéd auspicious words, "Let's feast!"
The palace maids came in one after another carrying food boxes, and the New Year's Eve banquet officially began.
The imperial court meals were exquisite and delicious. Jiang Changning, who had only eaten some cakes at noon, felt hungry. He ate attentively for a while before looking up to enjoy the singing and dancing performances.
"Is this year's dance newly choreographed?" Jiang Changning asked.
"A few new musicians and dancers have joined the Music Bureau. They choreographed this." Prince Jin picked up a piece of snowy winter pheasant and put it in Jiang Changning's bowl.
This year's banquet had two seats. The Princess Dowager of Prince Yu sat at the same table with the Princess Dowager of Prince Jin. Prince Yu was under house arrest, and the Queen Mother did not grant him the grace to attend the banquet. Zhao Xifang sat with the Princess Dowager of Prince Ningxia.
The Prince of Jin went out for a while. When he came back, Jiang Changning saw that his face was very ugly, as if he was suppressing a huge anger. He asked in a low voice: "Prince, what's wrong?"
"Let's talk about it when we get back." Prince Jin held her hand.
The dinner lasted for an hour. When it was over, snow began to fall from the sky again. The cold wind made the room even colder when people walked out of the warm hall.
(End of this chapter)